My Final ORI Blog

One of my largest projects for ORI was to organize a week of orientation programming for our newest class of scholarship recipients. Here's what I wrote about it. The blog is also up on the ORI homepage with a picture of some of the students...

Two weeks ago, the ORI staff here in Kigali made our favorite phone calls of the year. The calls went out to 47 students across Rwanda to let them know that, from a pool of over 1,400 applicants, they had been selected to receive an ORI scholarship. Like those that have come before them, the students in this year’s class are exceedingly bright, having performed at the highest levels on Rwanda’s national exam. Some plan to study medicine, others journalism or engineering—they all have big goals and they know that success at university is the first step toward achieving them.

When new student Seraphine Habimana was asked in her application interview why she should receive an ORI scholarship, she responded with an emphatic declaration: “Because I am the one who will change Rwanda!” After seeing Seraphine and the rest of the new class come together for an orientation week, it’s clear that she’ll have plenty of help from her fellow ORI students. Over the course of five days, the students learned about the ORI program, got to know their individual staff advisors, and participated in a variety of skill-building workshops. They were charismatic, energized, and ready with questions all week long.

The week’s highlights included question and answer sessions with older ORI students, presentations on sexual and reproductive health and gender awareness, and a workshop on financial management given by ORI student Janvier Kwihangana (who came prepared with his own PowerPoint presentation!). But the energy level really jumped when, after showing a film about the importance of being assertive and speaking your mind, the staff moderated an impromptu debate session. After taking positions on a series of issues related to human rights, gender norms, and racial equality, each student had the chance to defend his or her position. They argued forcefully and effectively; a few students even switched sides after hearing from the group’s most persuasive members. To say the debate was lively would be a serious understatement!

The week finished with an all-student meeting, where the older classes had their first opportunity to meet the new members of the ORI family. The room was full of hugs and smiling faces as the students caught up with old friends and greeted new ones. The meeting started with a boisterous round of introductions and applause for each student. When SGA President Julliet Busingye took the floor to welcome the new students she encouraged them to take the concept of an ORI family literally. By loving and supporting one another as brothers and sisters, Julliet said, the students will be better able to overcome the challenges they face and find success at university.

After a day off, the students embarked on a ten-week language and computer training schedule to prepare them for the start of the academic year. Be sure to check back in with us when school starts in January to see how they’re doing!